Supreme Hunter of Beautiful Souls-Chapter 399: Kael needs to rest.

The drop in blood pressure came without warning.

It wasn't sudden—it was insidious.

First, Kael felt the world lose definition at its edges, as if reality were being observed through wet glass. The sound of the wind became distant, muffled, and the weight of his own body, which until then had seemed irrelevant, returned with force.

His heart skipped a beat.

Then another.

A sharp pain shot through his head, as if something were squeezing his skull from the inside, compressing thoughts, memories, and consciousness into a single pulsating point. It wasn't ordinary physical pain—it was existential exhaustion. The price of forcing the authority, history, and laws of the world into sequence.

Kael brought his hand to his temple.

"Shit…" he murmured, his voice low and drawn out.

His vision darkened for an instant.

Then, the sky tilted.

Balance was lost.

His body, finally, exacted its toll.

Kael plummeted.

Not like a projectile—but like someone whose thread had been cut. The aura that held him suspended faltered for a critical second, and the wind roared against his falling body.

The ground was approaching too fast.

Too fast.

Before consciousness completely faded, Kael felt something—arms wrapping tightly around him, a familiar presence, desperate, too hot for that moment.

—KAEL!

Exelia appeared out of nowhere, tearing through the air in a flash of mana, grabbing him at the last instant. The impact of the deceleration made her muscles scream, but she maintained control, her teeth clenched as she adjusted her trajectory.

She looked at him once.

And paled.

—…this is bad—she murmured.

Kael's body was too tense. There were invisible fissures beneath his skin, microfractures of mana, internal channels collapsed from the excess energy absorbed and refined in a short time. His Divine Body kept him alive—but not unscathed.

"You have many internal wounds," Exelia said, her voice firm with force. "Far more than you should."

Kael tried to respond.

He couldn't.

Consciousness slipped like water through his fingers.

Exelia adjusted her descent, landing carefully on the now ice-free ground. Her feet touched the firm earth of Skaldi, and she held Kael upright, one of his arms resting on her shoulders.

"Stay with me," she ordered, in a tone that accepted no refusal.

Kael took a deep breath.

The air went in.

It went out.

It hurt.

Before she could say anything else, hurried footsteps echoed.

"KAEL!"

Irelia was the first to arrive, her expression completely broken between relief and panic. Amalia and Sylphie followed closely behind, running without regard for anything around them.

"What happened?!" Amalia asked, already touching his arm, her eyes analyzing every detail.

"He fell from the sky!" Sylphie said, almost shouting. "He was fine just a moment ago!"

Exelia replied without taking her eyes off Kael.

"Extreme exhaustion. Overuse of authority, chaos, and simultaneous absorption." She tightened her grip on his arm. "He pushed his body beyond what anything should endure."

Irelia swallowed hard.

"...will he be alright?"

Kael opened his eyes slowly.

Still red.

Still streaked with white reflections.

"I will…" his voice came out hoarse, faltering. "I don't die… that easily."

This reassured no one.

Sylphie almost cried.

"You're an idiot…" she murmured, gripping his sleeve tightly. "A very strong idiot… but still an idiot."

Kael tried to laugh.

He only managed a tired half-smile.

Exelia took a deep breath, finally allowing the tension to ease a little.

"You need to stop," she said, in a lower tone. "At least for a few hours. If you keep going like this, even this body won't hold up."

Kael nodded slightly.

"I know…"

He looked at the sky one last time, now completely normal.

Blue.

Cloudy.

Real.

"But…" he murmured, his eyes closing again. "They're still there."

Exelia squeezed his hand.

"Then you rest." Her gaze hardened. "And when you get up… we'll figure this out together."

Kael tried to take a step.

The intention was there.

The body… wasn't.

His knees buckled before the command even reached his muscles. It was as if, suddenly, all the authority that sustained him had been switched off at once. The pressure dropped brutally, the world tilted, and a sharp pain shot through his head like a spinning blade.

The air seemed too heavy to enter his lungs.

"Kael—" Exelia called, alarmed.

He tried to answer. He tried to say he was alright. He tried to force the Divine Body to recompose itself.

Nothing answered.

His vision fragmented into white and red blurs. The ground rose too quickly.

And then… darkness.

Kael's body collapsed completely.

Exelia reacted instantly, catching him before he hit the ground hard. The impact was cushioned, but his weight was absurd—not physical, but existential. It was like holding something that carried too many layers of the world within it.

"Hold him!" Exelia ordered, her voice firm but tense.

Sylphie was the first to move, appearing beside them in a blur of wind. Irelia and Amalia followed closely behind, kneeling on the frozen ground that was no longer deadly, but still cold.

Sylphie carefully slipped Kael's arm over his shoulder, feeling his body completely limp.

"He's not responding," she said, swallowing hard. "His breathing is… irregular."

Irelia closed her eyes for a second, using magical perception. When she opened them, her face was pale.

"The internal wounds are severe," she said. "It's not ordinary damage. It's overload. His body forced too many concepts at once."

Amalia clenched her fists. "He pulled an entire Era back into himself… no living being could endure that."

"He didn't faint because he's weak," Exelia replied, already kneeling beside Kael, her hands glowing with deep, controlled magic. "He fainted because he pushed his body beyond the limits the world considers possible."

She pressed her hand against Kael's abdomen. The light reacted erratically.

"Many existential microfractures," she murmured. "Internal tissues misaligned. The Divine Body is regenerating, but slowly… too slowly."

Sylphie felt a lump form in her throat. "He'll be alright, right?"

Exelia looked up at her. "Go," she said without hesitation. "But not here."

She rose abruptly, her expression taking on the tone of absolute command that made even archwitches obey without question.

"Sylphie, Irelia, Amalia—hold him tight. Don't let his connection to the world waver."

The three nodded immediately, adjusting their position to keep Kael steady, almost like living anchors.

Exelia turned around and made a short gesture.

The surviving witches—those who could still move—responded without needing explanation. A circle began to form, ancient runes being traced in the air, symbols that hadn't been used outside the Witch Realm for centuries.

The ground vibrated slightly.

The air bent.

"Emergency Portal," Exelia declared. "Destination: Central Core of the Witch Realm. Stabilization Chamber."

The space ahead of them tore open into an oval of deep light, iridescent colors swirling in a spiral. On the other side, an ancient, safe presence could be felt—a place where magical laws wouldn't try to crush Kael for existing.

Exelia turned to his unconscious body.

Her hard expression softened for a moment.

"You've done more than you should have," she murmured, almost inaudibly. "Now stay alive. We'll figure out the rest."

She raised her hand.

"Moving."

…

The darkness had no texture.

There was no ground.

There was no sky.

There was no direction.

Kael simply… existed.

His body didn't ache—because he didn't feel it.

His breath didn't falter—because there was no air.

It was like being awake inside a thought too tired to fight.

He didn't question where he was.

Not because he didn't want to.

But because he didn't have the energy to care. Then something moved in the darkness.

Not a sound.

Not a light.

An answer.

Reality—if it could still be called that—trembled slightly, as if someone had touched a gear that hadn't been used for ages.

And then, the System reacted.

The flap opened before Kael, but unlike any other time.

It didn't emerge gently.

It didn't appear obediently.

It was forced to appear.

[EXTERNAL SIGNAL DETECTED]

[A being from another sector reacts with the System]

Kael frowned, even without feeling his own face.

"…What?"

The interface blinked.

As if it were… nervous.

[Entity 00000007 says hello to you.]

For a full second, Kael was silent.

Then, he laughed.

A short laugh.

Tired.

Humorless.

"What the hell is this now…?"

The darkness ahead of him tore open.

It didn't open.

It didn't dissipate.

It was pushed aside, like a curtain being pulled by something that didn't need permission.

And then Kael saw.

A man.

No.

Calling him a man was wrong.

It was offensive.

It was… too small.

He had a humanoid form, yes—two arms, two legs, a head—but everything about him seemed wrong on a conceptual scale. It was like looking at something that shouldn't fit that form, but still did.

His presence crushed Kael instantly.

Not physically.

Existentially.

The Divine Body of Celestial Chaos reacted instinctively.

Authority against authority.

But it was useless.

The difference between them wasn't one of level.

It wasn't one of class.

It wasn't even one of dimension.

It was like comparing a flame to a dying star.

No… worse.

It was like comparing a spark to the idea of ​​fire.

Kael felt fear.

Not panic.

Not despair.

Pure fear.

Raw.

Honest.

Every instinct within him screamed the same thing:

This is not something you confront.

This is not something you understand.

"This isn't something that should be staring at you."

The man—the entity—observed Kael with a curiously… casual expression.

Eyes too deep.

Too ancient.

As if they had already seen universes born… and fail.

He smiled slightly.

"Relax."

His voice didn't echo.

It simply existed within Kael's mind.

"I didn't come here for this."

Kael swallowed hard—or at least tried to.

"...Who…who are you?"

The entity tilted its head, as if considering whether it was worth answering.

"Hmm."

It glanced to the side, as if remembering something trivial.

"Ah, right. Identifications."

The System blinked again, almost in panic.

[WARNING]

[Authority beyond scope detected]

[Containment protocols: NON-EXISTENT]

The entity let out a low laugh.

"Calm down, little box. I'm not going to break you… yet."

It turned its gaze back to Kael.

"You can call me !@&¨#." He spoke, and then, "Ah… I can't say my name in this sector. It must be the guy upstairs's doing… if I remember correctly, this is the domain of !I$!(@$$(@!")

Kael felt the name hurt.

Not in his ear. But in his soul.

"I can't hear…"

"Yeah," the entity agreed. "It happens, right? What can you do."

He took a few steps forward.

Each step made the void recede, as if afraid of being touched.

"I'm just passing through," he continued casually. "I had to cross some sectors and… well."

He shrugged.

"I just came from a visit to a Demonic Dragon."

Kael felt his heart—or the concept of it—skip for a moment.

"Dragon… Demonic…?"

"Yeah," said the entity, with a slight boredom in its voice. "It was a bit of work. Nothing too serious, but I used up some energy."

He He sighed.

"Then I thought: since I'm here… why not take a look at another irregular?"

His eyes fixed on Kael.

Directly.

Unveiled.

Unfiltered.

Kael felt naked.

Not physically.

But as if every decision, every choice, every failure, and every potential was being read at once.

"…Irregular?" Kael asked, his mental voice tense.

The entity smiled more openly now.

"Oh, yes."

He crouched slightly, reaching the same conceptual "height" as Kael.

"You."

Silence.

Heavy.

Dense.

"An outlier reincarnated being," he continued. "Broken system, but not broken. Self-authority too early. Improvised divine body. Messed causal line."

He clicked his tongue.

"A delicious mess."

Kael clenched his teeth.

"If you came to kill me… then just finish it off." "That's it."

The entity blinked.

And then laughed.

It really laughed.

"No, no, no… if I wanted to kill you, Kael Scarlet…"

The pressure increased for a microsecond.

Just enough for Kael to understand.

"…you would have ceased to exist before even thinking about it."

The smile disappeared.

But it didn't turn hostile.

It turned… curious.

"I just wanted to see it with my own eyes," he said. "The kind of thing that makes the higher sectors… uneasy."

He stood up again.

"And honestly?"

He shrugged.

"It was worth it."

The entity began to move away.

Darkness closed in behind him again.

"Rest," it said, almost as advice. "You overdid it. You used too much energy. Your body can't handle playing god for this long."

Kael felt his consciousness begin to sink.

Before everything went black, he forced one last question:

"…Will you come back?"

The entity paused for a moment.

It turned its face slightly.

It smiled.

"If you survive what comes next?"

A pause.

"Certainly."

And then… everything went black again.

…"Don't you think you scared that one a little too much?" questioned the woman beside the entity; she looked like a witch.

"What's wrong, Morgana? Am I the kind of person who scares people?" He asked, laughing as his hair and face formed.

"Dante, don't do these things… Wasn't it enough to take Valentina to scare that Demonic Dragon, now you've come to see someone blessed by Artemis?" Morgana said, pouting.

Dante smiled, "It's alright, I just gave him a little push… we still need to deal with that," he said, looking at the multiverse. "It's time to start over again."